1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to provide methods for authenticating a user obtaining information from a content providing server, and more particularly to a method for authenticating a user in which method can conduct an authentication process independent of a content providing server and does not require the content providing server to maintain information concerning a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a content providing server provides only members contents, the content providing server checks whether or not the user is a member. When the member is authenticated, the content providing server starts to provide contents to the members.
However, in a case in which the user registers a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a content, which is provided after the member is authenticated, to a bookmark of a Web browser, the user can directly access the contents without an authentication even if the membership is expired. Thus, conventionally, the following authentications are conducted.
In order to control access to the contents provided after the user is authenticated, for example, a method for authenticating a user every time as shown in FIG. 1A is provided.
In FIG. 1A, for example, the content providing server conducting product sales sends an authentication form in response to an indication of an intention of purchasing product from a user terminal. And, the content providing server authenticates the user based on input information (account, password, etc.) input into the authentication form by the user and then conducts the product sale to the user when the authentication is successfully completed.
In an alternative method as shown in FIG. 1B, a Web page (one time Web page) generated after the authentication is successfully completed.
In FIG. 1B, the content providing server conducting product sales sends the authentication form in response to the indication of the intention of purchasing products from the user terminal, authenticates the user based on the input information (account, password, etc.) input into the authentication form by the user, generates the one time Web page when the authentication is successfully completed, and conducts the product selling process. In this case, the one time Web page is deleted after one hour. Thus, it is possible to prevent an illegal access, by utilizing the bookmark created by the user, after the authentication is successfully completed.
However, in any one of the above conventional methods, since the content providing server conducts the authentication, the content providing server maintains member information by itself and then has to spend a large amount of expense for a human resources and a physical resources required to maintain.
Therefore, the member information is maintained separately from the content providing server. For example, if it is possible to conduct the authentication process for members by a provider such as an agent conducting a billing process to the members, the content providing server can reduce an amount of work and financial stress and the authentication process is conducted to decide whether or not to provide contents even if the user is registered to the bookmark of the Web browser.